


Gulons, Glitter, and Other Disasters

by acrownofwildolive



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/M, Fakeout Makeout, First Kiss, Pranks, Romantic Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16108580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrownofwildolive/pseuds/acrownofwildolive
Summary: Keefe enlists Sophie's help for his most ambitious prank yet.





	1. The Glitter Fiasco

**Author's Note:**

> I originally planned for this to be a one-shot, but it was getting a little long, so I have decided to split it into chapters. I have also done my best to comply with canon, but there are some elements I had to ignore for the sake of the story (it is very difficult to sneak around pulling pranks if you have an goblin/ogre bodyguard). I also can't remember if you can teleport into Foxfire, or if there is some magic preventing that. This is also un-beta'd, so apologies for any mistakes. Anyway, let me know what you think! Also x-posted to FFN.

"Psst. Foster."

Sophie did not look up from the curdleroot she was carefully peeling, her back unyieldingly straight.

"Foster."

Sophie remained unmoved, slowly gliding her knife up the skin of the squishy vegetable.

" _Sophie_." Keefe said urgently.

Sophie waited until Lady Cadence was across the room assisting a Level 1 prodigy before turning around in her seat to face Keefe. "What?"

Keefe looked around conspiratorially before leaning across his desk. "I have a new idea for a prank. One that may surpass the Great Gulon Incident."

Sophie raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "I thought you have nothing to do with that?"

"Oh, I certainly didn't," Keefe said dismissively. "Which is why I need to pull this new prank off and establish myself as a force of mischief greater than the mastermind behind the Great Gulon Incident. I've been too  _soft_ these past few years, too busy being heroic and manly, helping you save the Lost Cities and all that. It's time to get back in the prank game."

"You pulled a prank this morning." Sophie said mindfully. "That's why we're in _detention."_

Keefe looked briefly pained. "Yeah, sorry about that. I should have figured they'd realize you were the only person who could have given me glitter."

"It's okay," Sophie said. "When Lady Nissa told me I had detention, she said I should have known better then to give you the glitter in the first place. She's right."

Sophie had found a several vials of multicoloured craft glitter when emptying out the detritus of the backpack she had used when fleeing the human world. The glitter had been the remnants of some school project she couldn't quite remember. She had brought the vials to Foxfire the next day, hoping Biana would determine some cosmetic purpose the glitter course serve (eyeshadow, maybe? Sophie recalled seeing glittery eyeshadow in a human fashion magazine) and agree to take the the vials off Sophie's hands.

But Keefe had swooped in the moment Sophie had told Biana glitter stuck to anything and everything and could become a huge nuisance if she wasn't careful, and requested the glitter for "artistic purposes".

And against her better judgement, Sophie had given Keefe the glitter. She had been finding it increasingly difficult to say 'no' to him these days.

And of course, Keefe had immediately went and dumped all the glitter down the wall slot that served as the Tutoring Center's book return.

"I shouldn't have done it in the first place." Keefe said regretfully. "I really  _did_  want the glitter for art. But I saw the book return, and my impulses just took over. The entire idea was too simple, no real craftsmanship behind it. And worst of all, you got in trouble when you didn't  _do_  anything."

"Really, it's fine, Keefe." Sophie said, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Lady Cadence was still occupied. "What's this new prank?"

Keefe smiled in that wide, unabashed way that always made Sophie's heart beat a little bit faster. "Let's just say it involves gulons…and the Silver Tower."

"…Which I have access to."

Keefe nodded. "Yep. My plan hinges upon getting inside. Which is why I need your help."

Sophie considered. There was something that had been bothering her in the four years she'd been at Foxfire. Something she'd struggled to discover the truth about. But this — this might be her chance.

"I will help you," Sophie said slowly. "On two conditions."

"Of course. Anything for you." Keefe grinned.

"One," Sophie said, holding up her left index finger. "I want to know all the details about what you have planned, so I know what I'm getting into."

"That's only fair." Keefe agreed.

"And two…no one has ever told me what the Great Gulon Incident was, or who was involved. If you tell me, I'll help."

Keefe froze and blanched. Sophie crossed her arms and smiled at him.

He exhaled noisy after a long, silent moment. "Okay. Obviously, I was the mastermind behind that operation. And I would be insulted if you ever thought otherwise. I released about twenty gulons into the main building, and they made the entire place reek. They had to evacuate the school to air it out, and midterms had to be rescheduled. The mentors don't like it being brought up in case it gives anyone ideas about how to get out of exams. Happy?"

Sophie shook her head. "No. When I started Level 2, I was told it had happened three years earlier. You skipped Level 1, so you wouldn't have been a Foxfire prodigy yet. You must have had help. Who was your accomplice?"

Keefe leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I work alone."

"And yet you're asking me to help you break into the Silver Tower?" Sophie challenged, enjoying this immensely. "Tell me who it was, and I'll help you."

Keefe fiddled anxiously with his peeling knife, flicking the curdleroot on his desk with his index finger and thumb so the root spun around in a lazy arc. "If you help me, and we pull this off, I promise I will tell you. I just…I have to ask the other person first if it's alright to tell you they were involved."

Sophie didn't say anything. Keefe looked up from the curdleroot and met her eyes.

"Look, I told you that I was behind it and that someone else was involved. Is that enough for now?" Keefe asked, hesitant.

"…okay." Sophie said, watching as Keefe's face lit up. "I'll help you."

"You won't regret this, Foster." Keefe said, leaning back in his chair and putting his arms behind his head.

"You  _will_  regret not having peeled your curdleroot, Mr. Sencen." Lady Cadence said from behind Keefe. Keefe jumped in his seat and grabbed for his curdleroot and peeling knife.

Sophie smiled sweetly at Lady Cadence and gestured to her perfectly peeled curdleroot.

Lady Cadence scooped the peels into a small basket and held out a cloth bag for Sophie to place the remainder of the root in. "Good work, Miss Foster. Perhaps if Mr. Sencen spent less time flirting with you, he too could be productive."

Keefe winked at Lady Cadence, who let out a sigh of something long suffering.

* * *

That afternoon Sophie and Keefe sat in the tall grass surrounding Havenfield, having been politely informed by Edaline that she would prefer they work outside until the smell of curdleroot no longer lingered on their clothes and hands.

Keefe unfurled a sheet of paper on which he had sketched the Silver Tower. "So, here's the plan: we need to arrive at Foxfire very early, before anyone else is there. But the Silver Tower has dormitories, so we can't arrive too early that the Level 8s will think something is wrong if we make any noise trying to get in."

"So around dawn?" Sophie suggested. "That would give us enough time to light leap, get into the Tower, leave the gulons, leave the Tower, light leap back home, and then arrive at Foxfire at the normal time like nothing is wrong."

Keefe leaned back on his hands and smiled. "Good thinking, Foster. If we pull this off, they wouldn't be able to prove if the gulons had been in the Tower all night, or if someone put them there in the morning."

"How many gulons are we going to need?" Sophie asked. Other than Mrs. Stinkbottom (who didn't really count), she had never seen a gulon. "And how are we going to get them?"

"I figure we won't need more than two, maybe three gulons to stink the place up." Keefe replied. "To get the ideal stink factor, you usually want one on each floor, but the Tower is small, and stink rises, so I don't think we need to bother. We'll just enter and release them on the ground floor and then get out. And don't worry, I can get my hands on two or three, easy."

He gestured to the sketch of the Tower. "Could you describe the layout of the first floor to me?"

"There are sconces with balefire in the entryway." Sophie said, as Keefe began adding to the sketch with a piece of charcoal. "The ceiling is very low, and there is a statute with a unicorn in the middle. There's a cabinet of silver cloaks, but I don't think we'll be inside long enough to need them —"

"Which side of the wall?" Keefe asked, charcoal poised to add the cabinet to the floor plan he was drawing. "That could be a good place to put one of the gulons."

"It's on the far side, past the statute of the unicorn. It only opens for the Beacon." Sophie said. "There aren't any doors, just panels in the wall that open when the Beacon presses their palm to it. Well, actually I don't know if they only open for the Beacon, or if they only open for anyone with access to the Tower."

"They have to, right?" Keefe mused, but then his brows narrowed. "How have you been finding your way around if you can't open the panels?"

"Master Leto would always have to let me in because I wasn't tall enough to reach the DNA panel, and then he would press the panel in the wall to let me into the rest of the Tower." Sophie explained.

Sophie was certain she had grown in the time she'd been away from Foxfire, but when she had turned up to her Linguistics session a few weeks back, she still hadn't been able to reach the panel without straining on her toes. It had been humiliating to admit that to Lady Cadence when she'd shown up ten minutes late and flustered to their session. Lady Cadence had (begrudgingly) let her into the Tower for all their sessions since.

"And now?" Keefe said, an eyebrow raised in obvious amusement.

"…I'm still not tall enough and Lady Cadence has to let me in." Sophie grumbled.

"Am I tall enough to reach it?" Keefe asked. Sophie nodded.

"If I gave you a boost, you'd be able to reach it, right?"

Sophie's cheeks felt hot. "What do you mean?"

Keefe interlocked his fingers together. "You know, give you a boost. I crouch down, you put your foot on my hands like a ladder."

Sophie considered. "Yeah, probably."

"Okay, then that's the plan. And as for the panels, can you try and open one during your next session?"

Sophie shook her head. "Lady Cadence walks me to and from the entryway. It would look suspicious. When we're there, we'll see if I can open the panels. If I can't, we'll just have to put the gulons in the entryway. That might actually help us stay under the radar, maybe they'll assume the gulons got in because someone didn't close the door behind them all the way."

"That  _would_ strike fear into the hearts of the mentors." Keefe said. "That they didn't rid the campus of gulons seven years ago like they thought…"

"So, when can you get the gulons?" Sophie asked. She was beginning to see why Keefe enjoyed pranks. You got to exert some control over the world, got to decide how mischief was unleashed upon the masses. It was a little like being a dictator, but more light-hearted and with less malice. And Sophie was grateful for the chance to be in control of something for once.

"I already have them. The Shores of Solace is so  _boring_ , I needed something to do when I was recovering."

"So you picked raising little green stink machines?"

"Of course." Keefe said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Something dawned on Sophie then. "I just realized. We're going to have to teleport in. There won't be any sunlight to use a pathfinder, and if we use a Leapmaster, we'll end up in the main building, and who knows if we'll be able to get outside to the Silver Tower."

Keefe paused, and met Sophie's eyes. "You still on board? If not, it's alright. I don't want you to do something you don't want to."

Sophie shook her head. "No, I'm still on board. You'll leap from the Shores of Solace to Havenfield, and I will teleport us to Foxfire, right in front of the Silver Tower. We'll sneak in, leave the gulons, teleport back to Havenfield, then leap back to Foxfire at the usual time. We're going to have to figure out how to teleport  _out_  of Foxfire, though. There isn't any place we could jump from to get enough speed."

"We should do a test-run." Keefe suggested. "We'll do everything except break into the Tower, to see if it's possible to get in and out without someone noticing."

Sophie nodded. "Sure. Tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night."


	2. The Teleportation Tragedy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not getting this up sooner. This fic has ended up being significantly longer than I originally planned and I've gone back and forth about whether or not to split it into three or four chapters instead of two like I originally intended to keep the length of each chapter between 2,000-3,000 words. Ultimately, I've decided to split it up, so there will be another chapter or two after this one depending on how long the ending winds up being. Either way, the next chapter should be up shortly, as I have everything written except the final few scenes.
> 
> I've tried to keep this as in line with canon as possible, in terms of both the timeline and the details of information mentioned, but I don't have my copies of the books with me so there might be errors. If a description of something is glaringly in conflict with canon or there are inconsistencies with the timeline, apologies in advance. Also, in Chapter 1, I had Sophie mention being in Level 1, which isn't correct — she was in Level 2 in the first book. Whoops.
> 
> Also x-posted to FFN

Sophie had just finished her Alchemy session, and was rounding the corner on her way to the Level 4 atrium when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into a shadowy recess behind a large stone pillar.

Not somebody — Keefe.

His hair looked disheveled, and not in the purposeful way that it normally did, the way Sophie knew took several hair products to achieve. It stuck out at odd angles, as though Keefe had been constantly running his hands through it. His sleeves were not rolled up slightly in their usual, casual manner, but as though he had frenziedly pushed them up. The laces on his jerkin were halfway undone and his waist-length cape hung around his shoulders at a peculiar angle.

"Are you okay?" Sophie said in alarm, trying to shove down the embarrassment she felt at the fact that she clearly spent too much time looking at him.

"Foster, we have a problem." Keefe whispered. "I overheard Sir Conley and Lady Veda talking about the Level 7 and Level 8 Elementalism classes. They're letting them run all over campus, bottling fire. At  _night!_ "

"Did they say when? Or has this been going on for a while?" Sophie asked. If the night-time Elementalism had already started, they'd have to put the prank on hold, and Sophie was a little taken back by how frustrated and disappointed that made her feel.

Keefe shook his head frantically, his already disheveled hair somehow becoming further mussed. "Lady Veda said tomorrow night is the first night. But that's not the worst part: the way they were talking about it, they made it seem like this was going to be a regular thing."

"If they're not starting until tomorrow, we can still do the test-run tonight. Just like we planned." Sophie said as cheerfully as she could manage.

Keefe let out a long, pained sigh. "I think we need to put Operation Stink Bomb on the back burner. We need to do the test-run immediately before the actual prank."

Everything in Sophie's brain was shouting at her not to suggest what she wanted to suggest. But this had been a rare reprieve for her, a chance to think about something other than the Black Swan or the Neverseen or her human family.

"So instead of doing the test-run tonight, we'll do the real thing. Operation Stink Bomb is still a go."

Keefe looked at her as if she'd sprouted three heads. "Are you serious? I thought you wanted to do a test-run."

"I'm completely serious." Sophie said more confidently than she felt. "And you suggested the test-run, not me."

"I suggested the test-run because I don't want to be reckless when it comes to this prank." Keefe countered.

"Because you doing something reckless is shockingly out of character?" Sophie challenged.

Keefe stilled. "I don't mind being reckless when it's just me that's at stake. I don't want to be reckless when you're involved—"

He stopped as though he'd said too much and looked down at his feet. "I mean, I put glitter down a book return and you somehow ended up getting detention."

"…I willingly gave you the glitter." Sophie said softly, hoping the limited light behind the pillar meant Keefe couldn't see how red her face was.

"How are we going to teleport back to Havenfield?" Keefe said, returning to his original spiel. "I thought the whole  _point_ of the test-run was to find a place we could get enough velocity from."

Sophie considered. "If we're smart with our timing, it will be just light enough outside for us to light leap on the way back."

Keefe paused for a moment, his eyes locked on Sophie's. "Gulons are  _serious_ , Foster. Because of the Great Gulon Incident, if we get caught with them, we'll be in a lot of trouble. Not expulsion level trouble, but still — a lot of trouble. Especially because we're targeting the elite levels—"

"You're not backing out now, are you?" Sophie said, a little bit surprised with her new found boldness.

Keefe froze mid-rant and regarded her carefully. He crossed his arms and learned against the wall. "No. I'm definitely not. I just…I want you to know what you're potentially signing up for, if we get caught."

"We won't get caught. You didn't get caught during the Great Gulon Incident, did you?" Sophie said reassuringly. "And if we  _do_  get caught, what's the worst the Council can do? We've been expelled and banished before. Plus, we've both done things that are ten times more risky than this in the past."

Keefe rubbed the back of his neck. "As ingenious as the Great Gulon Incident was, the only reason I didn't get caught because I wasn't a Foxfire prodigy when it happened. A few months after I started Foxfire, Dame Alina made it clear to me that she knew I was responsible but couldn't prove it. So, technically, I  _did_ get caught."

"I can't believe you're selling yourself short over your greatest triumph—" Sophie said (Keefe snorted at "greatest triumph"). "Listen, we'll be fine. I promise. And I don't mind not doing a test-run."

Keefe did not say anything for a long moment. He uncrossed his arms and righted himself from against the wall and Sophie did not need to be an empath to know that something was bothering him. She reached for his hand.

"If we're caught and get in trouble, it's fine. I agreed to do this." Sophie said. "It's not like I'll have I walked in on you leaving gulons in the Silver Tower right as Lady Cadence barged in and ended up in trouble because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Keefe was looking down at their hands, but Sophie saw the hint of a smirk playing at the right corner of his mouth. "If you're sure, Foster."

Sophie nodded. "I am. Meet at Havenfield tonight, about an hour before dawn?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

Sophie waited in the cupola of Havenfield's roof in the early hours of the morning. The glittering crystals hanging from the chandelier reflected the navy blue of the sky, bathing the whole room in an eerie, dark glow.

She wasn't quite sure what one wore when they were sneaking into school in the middle of the night, but had decided on a black tunic and black pants. She'd replaced her usual satchel with a smaller bag just large enough for her pathfinder and some muffins she'd pilfered from the kitchen in case they got hungry.

While getting dressed, Sophie had realized she was much less worried about about how they'd get  _out_  of Foxfire after they'd released the gulons into the Silver Tower, and much more worried about what they'd do when they arrived  _back_. Their original plan had been to teleport back to Havenfield, change, and then leap to school together like nothing was amiss. But now that they were light leaping, would Keefe just leap directly back to the Shores of Solace? Or would they stick with the original plan, and arrive back at Havenfield together? Sophie was certain she'd leaped to school from Havenfield with Keefe in the past, so it wouldn't look too suspicious if they arrived together, right?

Sophie's mind was reeling when a crystal descended from the chandelier to catch the light from a particularly bright star. Keefe's form appeared from the beam of starlight, also dressed in all black. At first glance, Sophie thought Keefe was wearing a human beanie. As he approached her, grinning, Sophie realized it was obviously an Elvish interpretation. The dark wool was thicker and the edge of the hat was embroidered with emerald thread.

"Morning!" Keefe said cheerfully. "Or is it night?"

"I think we're right on the cusp between the two." Sophie said quietly, watching as Keefe set his Foxfire uniform in the corner of the room and began to rummage through his school bag (so he  _had_  brought them).

Keefe produced a beanie identical to the one he was wearing from the depths of his school bag, along with a few crumpled sheets of paper, and turned to face Sophie. He had an oddly-shaped bag slung across his right shoulder and chest that reminded Sophie a bit of a kangaroo pouch.

"The last time my dad caught me sneaking out at night, he said it was my hair that gave me away," Keefe said, holding up the second beanie and walking purposefully towards Sophie. He gently placed the beanie on her head, positioning it until covered her ears. "So I'd figured we'd both need hats."

Keefe adjusted the beanie slightly, his fingers just brushing Sophie's temples. She shivered.

"Do you think I should tuck the rest of my hair up?" Sophie said, kicking herself for not putting her hair up or at least having the foresight to put it up into a braid.

"Nah, it will just keep falling back out and bothering you. Besides, your hair is pretty down —" Keefe was interrupted by a loud snore from his bag. Sophie watched as the fabric of the bag moved up and down marginally, as though it were a bedsheet someone was dozing under.

Keefe crouched down slightly and held the flaps of the bag open so Sophie could peer in. Three tiny, furry gulons were nestled together amongst an old blanket. They were bright green, with small, round noses and short, folded ears.

"So…these little guys are the reason midterms were canceled all those years ago?" Sophie asked, reaching out to stroke the ears of the gulon nearest to her.

"Yep. They'll only start stinking if they're startled." Keefe said, taping one of the gulons on the nose affectionately. "They're heavy sleepers; they didn't even notice we were light leaping."

They tip-toed out of the cupola and down the halls of the rest of the house at an agonizingly slow pace. The stairs in particular were a challenge, and took them longer than Sophie anticipated to maneuver down without making any noise.

Finally they reached the back door. Sophie turned the knob slowly and gestured to Keefe to exit first. He bowed exaggeratedly and stepped outside, Sophie at his heels. She carefully glided the door closed, and they headed for the cliffs.

Havenfield was near silent, except for the sounds of their feet in the grass and the shallow, sleepy breathing of some of the animals off in the distance. In the soft moonlight, Sophie could see that Keefe had poked tiny holes in the bag for the gulons. She reached up and readjusted the strap so it sat taught on his shoulder.

Keefe raised an eyebrow at her.

"We have to make sure they're tucked in tight." Sophie murmured. "We can't have them fall out or wake up when we're teleporting."

Keefe had retied the bag's closure and was using his right arm to hold it securely against his chest when they reached the cliffs. Sophie looked down at the water below and gulped. She had done this multiple times, had teleported from this same set of cliffs with Keefe many times over, and yet she couldn't help the pit forming in her stomach.

"We can't scream." Sophie realized, reaching for Keefe's hand. "During the fall."

Keefe mimed zipping his lips. "I won't make a sound."

Sophie wondered if it was possible to jump off a cliff without screaming, or if it was a reflex that just couldn't be avoided, like jumping when silence was interrupted by a loud sound or yawning when someone else did.

"You're not backing out now, are you Foster?" Keefe teased, echoing what Sophie had said to him earlier. But there was something else in his voice, something that sounded like concern.

"No. I'm fine." Sophie said firmly.

"You sure? I can tell you're nervous. So nervous that you're making  _me_  nervous. Your nails are biting into my palm." Keefe held up their clasped hands.

"Sorry!" Sophie squeaked, but Keefe ran his thumb over the back of her fingers.

"It's fine. You still in?"

Sophie looked up at the sky, which was a half shade lighter than it had been when Keefe had arrived. She wondered how much time they had wasted just trying to get out of the house without making any noise.

There was a small part of Sophie that was screaming BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA! but there was a larger part of her that was having a difficult time caring.

"Yep. I'm ready." Sophie took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. "One. Two. Three."

They launched (silently) over the cliffs and down to the ocean below. Thunder cracked, the air hissed as it split, and they fell into darkness.

_Foxfire, right behind the amphitheater_. Sophie conjured up images of the domed structure and the field of purple grass surrounding it, her grip tight on Keefe's hand. Thunder boomed once more and the air converged.

Their landing was not as smooth as Sophie would have liked, and they tumbled onto what felt like (and Sophie hoped  _was_ ) grass in a sprawl of limbs. Sophie winced as her chin knocked against what she presumed was Keefe's arm, her eyes still squeezed shut.

Keefe made a choking sound and Sophie's eyes flew open. He'd landed flat on his back, and she realized he must have had the wind knocked out of him.

_Then_  she realized she'd also landed on top of him, her chest flush against his, which probably wasn't helping him get air back into his lungs.

Sophie grimaced and struggled to push herself up with her hands. She was thankful that the pain from the impact was overpowering the deep sense of embarrassment she was feeling. "Keefe, are you okay?"

"…I'm fine." Keefe groaned, shakily propping himself up on his elbows.

He opened his eyes and it suddenly hit Sophie how very, very close their faces were. Then Keefe's eyes grew huge and his hand flew up to his shoulder. The bag was gone.

They both sprung to their feet and glanced around. Panic gripped Sophie's chest and she could hear Keefe breathing heavily off to her left.

Sophie had figured they should land a little ways away from the Silver Tower, in case their landing was rough and someone heard. Behind the amphitheater had seemed like a good place. It was a short walk from the Silver Tower and would obscure their landing from anyone taking a late night stroll across campus. But looking around, Sophie immediately regretted her decision. The area behind the amphitheater was hilly, covered with bushes, and there were patches of grass much longer than the neatly clipped beds that covered the rest of campus. The bag could be anywhere. Or worse — if the bag had fallen when they had exited the void, and if they had exited at a high enough altitude, it could be on the amphitheater's roof—

"Foster!" Keefe whisper-screamed. Sophie snapped her head to look at him. He was standing in front of an especially long patch of grass, the blades rising well above his knees. "I hear snoring."

Sophie waded through the grass to help him dig through the tall blades, until her hands felt the rough canvas of the bag.

"I found them!" Sophie exclaimed, tugging on the fabric and pulling the bag out of the grass. Keefe hurriedly untied the closure and they peeked inside.

The tree gulons were safe and secure, still nestled together, and snoring contentedly.

Keefe signed in relief. "They're fine."

"The grass probably cushioned them." Sophie said, glancing up at the sky. It was no longer a rich navy, but a deep royal blue. It was going to start getting drastically lighter within the next half hour.

"We need to hurry." Sophie said as Keefe carefully slung the bag back over his shoulder.


	3. The Reconnaissance Debacle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Originally x-posted to FFN on November 6th)
> 
> Happy Flashback release day everyone! I considered making this chapter the last to celebrate, but I did not want to post a 5,000+ word chapter on the day the book came out. So there will be one more chapter after this!
> 
> As I've mentioned in the previous chapters, I've done my best to comply with canon, but there were some elements I had to ignore for the sake of the story. I also don't have my copies of the books with me, so if there are any inconsistencies with the way something is described in the books, apologies in advance!

They walked in companionable silence across the grounds, the purple grass short enough not to make any noise as they trudged over it and soft enough to muffle the sound of their footprints.

The gleaming Silver Tower stood out sharply against the dark sky, a beacon in the night. Sophie grabbed Keefe's arm, signalling him to slow his pace and follow her around the side of the tower.

It was light enough that Sophie could see the Tower's door and the DNA panel installed to its left from a few feet away. She tilted her head towards the sky again. Faint blots of deep orange were beginning to form against the rich blue.

"Okay." Sophie breathed. "We'll have to be quick. And I'll need a boost."

Keefe reached out and positioned his palm flat to the ground before moving his hand back and forth, just brushing the top of Sophie's head as though he were a theme park employee determining whether or not she was tall enough to ride a rollercoaster. Sophie crossed her arms. She was not _that_ short, and Keefe was not actually that  _much_  taller than her…

"Not a huge boost, though. At least I think." Keefe said. He removed his bag and carefully set it on the ground before coming to examine the Tower. He turned to face Sophie, his back a few inches away from the wall beside the DNA panel. He stood with his legs apart and bent his knees slightly — triangle formation, Sophie remembered, vaguely recalling the time her human parents had tried to move a couch and her mother had worriedly told her father to bend with his knees, not his back.

Keefe looked at her, paused as if considering, then bent his knees a touch more. Their faces were level. He locked his fingers together and lowered his hands. "Hold onto my shoulders."

Sophie nodded and reached out, placing her hands on Keefe's shoulders. She held her breath and set one foot on his hands. Keefe rose fractionally on his knees, and Sophie found herself facing the DNA panel, grateful that Keefe could not see how red she was sure her face was.

She licked the panel, and the heavy door opened with a slight creak.

"It worked," Sophie said as softly as she could. Deep down, she had expected the panel to sound in alarm and Lady Cadence to suddenly appear in the doorway, eyes flashing and mouth stern.

"Woo! See, what did I tell you?" Keefe laughed. "I'm going to lower you back down, so hold on."

Even with the warning and her tightened grip on Keefe's shoulders, Sophie still almost tumbled backwards as soon as Keefe began to lower his hands.

She opened her mouth to shout, then realized where she was and clamped her lips shut. Keefe had frozen, waiting for her to right herself.

"Are you okay?" Keefe whispered as Sophie clutched at his shoulders. "Are you gonna fall?"

"Nope, I'm fine!" She squeaked.

Keefe paused. Sophie felt his chest rise against her stomach. "I'm going to lower you a little bit more, until you can put your arms around my neck. Then I'll just drop your foot and put you down, okay? I think you'll fall if I keep trying to lower you like this."

Sophie stilled and considered the logistics of what Keefe had suggested. She knew he was probably right, and that she'd be in no danger of falling and smacking her head against the grass this way, but —

"Foster? You okay? I can tell you're nervous, you know. I'm not going to drop you, I swear! I'm strong!"

"Yes, I'm fine." Sophie said. "Okay. Lower me a little."

Keefe slowly lowered his hands until their faces were level again. "Hold on. I'll tell you right before I let go of your foot."

Sophie nodded and slid her arms tightly around Keefe's neck, burrowing her face in the crook of his neck and hoping that her emotions weren't betraying her the way her face definitely was. "Ready when you are."

"Okay. One. Two. Three." Keefe dropped her foot and for a fraction of a second Sophie dangled in the air with nothing but Keefe's neck for support. Her breath hitched, and then she felt his arms come up to wrap around her waist.

Keefe stood up quickly, righting himself after standing in a crouched position, then leaned down and set Sophie back on her feet.

"See! Told you I wouldn't drop you." Keefe grinned. "Maybe it would have been easier to just give you a piggyback, though. My knees hurt from standing that way…"

Sophie shook her head as Keefe knelt down to retrieve the bag with the gulons. "I probably would have leaned too close to the wall or something and we would have toppled face-forward and hit our heads against it."

They crept inside the Tower, careful to keep the door ajar behind them. The balefire sconces  _were_ on at night, but their flames were dimmed, and Sophie struggled to see more than a few inches in front of her.

The sky outside was lighter, dawn just approaching. They had wasted too much time trying to sneak out of Havenfield without making any noise, looking for the gulons behind the amphitheater, and getting into the Tower that Sophie was certain they'd have to go with Keefe's idea to just leave the gulons in one of the entryway cabinets to make it back to Havenfield in time.

Keefe was trying to read the floor plan he had drawn of the entryway in the muted light from the sconces, and motioned to the cabinet the Tower's silver capes were kept in. It appeared he'd had the same thought.

Sophie had only seen Magnate Leto open the cabinet with his Beacon badge, but there was a wooden panel installed beside the cabinet's doors. Sophie reached up and tentatively placed her palm against the panel. One of the doors slid open almost soundlessly.

"Perfect." Keefe whispered, stepping into the cabinet. The inner walls were covered with hooks on which to hang capes, but Sophie noticed that only a handful were hung up properly. The rest were dangling half on the hook, half off, and several had fallen to the floor, the silvery fabric pooling against the dark wood.

Sophie followed Keefe inside the cabinet as he slid his bag off his shoulder and removed the first gulon. He positioned it on a fallen cloak in the corner and gave it a scratch behind its ear. Sophie reached into the bag and pulled out the second gulon. Its fur was soft against her hands, and she placed it beside the first gulon. Keefe set the final gulon down next to the first two and pulled another cape over their little furry bodies, leaving their faces visible.

"Bye little guys." Sophie said. She could have sworn Keefe was teary eyed.

"They'll be okay." She said reassuringly, placing a hand on Keefe's arm.

"Oh, I know. I'm just worried they'll forget how to find their way back to me."

"How would they do that?" Sophie asked, thinking of dogs who traveled miles and miles to make it back to their owners in the Forbidden Cities.

Suddenly Sophie heard footsteps approaching. She froze and looked at Keefe. His eyes were wide.

If they ran for the door, they'd cause a racket. And it wasn't quite light enough outside to light leap back home. They needed to hide.

Sophie stuck her arm around the doorframe of the cabinet and pressed her palm against the panel, quickly retracting her hand as the door slid back into place, trapping them inside the cabinet in utter darkness. She reached for Keefe's hand without thinking, and felt his fingers wrap tightly around hers.

The footsteps were in the entryway now, and Sophie realized with a jolt that they'd left the front door open. She bit her lip, hoping whoever the footsteps belonged to would just think that a fellow Level 8 had arrived back late and forgot to shut the door behind them. She weighed the risk of attempting to discern who the footsteps belonged to via telepathy, and quickly decided it wasn't worth it.

Sophie heard the door clang shut and the footsteps slowly, purposefully circling the entryway. She heard a hand smack against wood, and the soft sound of doors gliding open. After a few moments, the doors slid shut and another panel was pressed.

Sophie's heart lurched.

_They're opening all the cabinets_. Sophie transmitted to Keefe, who she felt tense beside her.

_Do you have some newfound ability you've been hiding that could get us out of this?_  Keefe asked.

_Ha-ha. Any idea who they might be? Maybe what they're feeling will tell you if it's a Level 8 or a Mentor._

_Whoever it is, they're sleepy and annoyed, which doesn't really help narrow it down…are you worried its Lady Cadence?_ Sophie could feel Keefe tense across the connection.

_A little. Do you remember if the Beacon lives in the Tower?_

The footsteps grew louder as whoever they belonged to crossed to the side of the entryway their cabinet was on, and Sophie felt her heart patter violently against her chest. She listened, and tried to estimate where in the entryway the footsteps were. She decided that whoever they belonged to was three cabinets down from theirs.

Then an idea struck. A crazy one. But depending on who was on the other side of that door, one that just might work.

_Do you trust me?_  She transmitted.

_More than anyone_.

Sophie reached out until her fingers connected with two capes. She tugged them off their hooks and passed one to Keefe.  _Put on a cape, and take off your beanie._

_And?_  Keefe asked, reaching out and plucking off Sophie's own beanie as she secured the cape around her neck.

The footsteps grew louder.

Sophie steeled herself for what she was going to ask. She could just make out Keefe's shadowy form in the dark, and reached up until her hand landed on his shoulder.

_I'm going to kiss you, and I need you to kiss me back. Make it look real._

She felt Keefe still under her palm and silently cursed herself for clearly having overstepped something.

… _I can do that._

Sophie knew her hands were trembling, but she placed her other hand on Keefe's shoulder. She tilted her head back and pushed a little on her toes to get more height. She felt Keefe shift slightly and he must have dipped his head because his nose brushed hers.

Sophie was certain there was no way this wasn't going to be awkward. It was dark, and neither of them had really excelled at Exillium's night-vision training, and they were technically acting under duress—

_What are you waiting for, Foster? I thought you were going to kiss me! Are you not tall enough? Do you need me to lean down more?_

She could hear Keefe laughing over the transmission and considered transmitting back and telling him to shut up. Instead, she leaned up and kissed him.

It didn't feel awkward like Sophie has predicted, just… _new_. She tried to remain focused on the sounds of the footsteps in the entryway, but then she felt Keefe's mouth curve into a faint smirk against her lips, and that sparked something within her. She moved to slid her arms around Keefe's neck, balancing precariously, dangerously on the tips of her toes. Her breath hitched when his hands came around her waist as he gently pulled her against him, and Sophie found it difficult to focus on anything but Keefe —

Sophie's back was to the cabinet doors, and she could only faintly hear the swoosh of the doors gliding open, or the sound of footsteps as someone stepped inside the cabinet.

" _Mr. Sencen_?!" An (unfortunately familiar) voice exclaimed.

They broke apart and Sophie's options were to stare at Keefe's chest or her feet. She picked her feet, which were now faintly illuminated with the light from the balefire sconces in the entryway. She was still straining on her toes, but she'd somehow ended up standing on Keefe's feet. She felt her cheeks warming.

"Yes?" Keefe said matter-of-factly.

"What are you  _doing_  here?" The voice demanded, aghast.

"Can I tell you later? I'm a little busy at the moment."

Sophie felt a grip on her arm and was tugged around to face an extremely irritated looking Lady Cadence.

"Miss Foster?" Lady Cadence asked, rapidly shifting her gaze back and forth between Sophie and Keefe.

Sophie did not say anything, just bit her lip and looked at the floor.

"I'm…disappointed, but not surprised. With both of you. But for entirely different reasons." Lady Cadence said after a long moment.

Then her eyes landed on the gulons, who were still snoring in the corner.

Lady Cadence turned to look at Keefe, then to Sophie. Then she slowly titled her head to look at the ceiling, closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Collect those… _things_  immediately. I'm taking you to the Principal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anyone is underwhelmed by the kiss, but I want to make sure this fic stays as solidly within the G rating as it can.


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